WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - A federal judge has permanently blocked North Carolina from issuing an anti-abortion specialty license plate, ruling that offering plates with a "Choose Life" slogan without an alternative supporting abortion rights is unconstitutional.

The lack of a plate promoting reproductive freedom in the state constitutes "viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment," Senior U.S. District Judge James C. Fox said on Friday.

The judge previously granted a preliminary injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, which had argued the state should not be allowed to distribute specialty plates offering only one point of view on the abortion debate.

"This is a great victory for the free speech rights of all North Carolinians, regardless of their point of view on reproductive freedom," Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU's North Carolina Legal Foundation, said on Monday.

"The government cannot create an avenue of expression for one side of a contentious political issue while denying an equal opportunity to citizens with the opposite view," he said.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in September 2011 after state legislators approved the "Choose Life" plate but refused to authorize voluntary license plates with abortion rights slogans such as "Respect Choice."

The anti-abortion plate was one of approximately 70 new specialty plates approved by the Republican-led legislature and signed into law by Democratic Governor Bev Perdue in June 2011.

Perdue's office said no one was available to comment on the ruling on Monday.

A portion of the money collected from the "Choose Life" plates was due to go to a private organization that funds crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina. Legislators prohibited the money from being given to agencies that provide abortions or counsel women about them.

More than two dozen states allow the production of "Choose Life" license plates, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health policies. Court challenges over the plates have delayed their distribution in some states.

LANSING, Mich. — As the chants of angry protesters filled the Capitol, Michigan lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to right-to-work legislation, dealing a devastating and once-unthinkable defeat to organized labor in a state that has been a cradle of the movement for generations.

The Republican-dominated House ignored Democrats’ pleas to delay the passage and instead approved two bills with the same ruthless efficiency that the Senate showed last week. One measure dealt with private sector workers, the other with government employees. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed them both within hours.

After the vote, he said, Michigan’s future “has never been brighter, because workers are free.”

Once the laws are enacted, the state where the United Auto Workers was founded and labor has long been a political titan will join 23 others with right-to-work laws, which ban requirements that nonunion employees pay unions for negotiating contracts and other services.

Supporters say the laws give workers more choice and support economic growth, but critics insist the real intent is to weaken organized labor by encouraging workers to “freeload” by withholding money unions need to bargain effectively.

So there was a shooting in a mall near Portland, OR (Clackamas). I can't imagine how terrifying that must be, especially with families and children around, the holidays... just all kinds of fucked up.

KOMO News wrote:

CLACKAMAS, Ore. – A gunman opened fire Tuesday in a busy Clackamas shopping center, leaving the gunman and two others dead and forcing the mall's Santa Claus and hundreds of Christmas shoppers and employees to flee or hide among store displays.

The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. at the Clackamas Town Center. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office immediately received a flurry of 9-1-1 calls and dispatched deputies to the scene where they divided up into small teams to track down the shooter, who was later found dead.

The gunman shot and killed two people and critically injured a third person before turning the gun on himself, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. James Rhodes told reporters outside the mall. He added that no deputies fired their weapons during the incident.

At a news conference later in the evening, Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said responding officers handled the situation admirably.

"I'm really proud of all the different agencies that came together to really step up and put their lives on the line," he said, adding that there were law enforcement officers at the mall minutes after the first reports of shots. Four SWAT teams were quickly deployed, Roberts said, to "basically hunt down this guy in the mall."

At the height of the terror, over 100 officers from nearly every government agency - from the city to the federal levels - responded.

At this point, investigators have not yet released any details about the suspect or two victims who were killed. All they have said is that the shooter was an adult male.

The victim who survived is a female and in "serious" condition, according to Oregon Health and Science University, where she is being treated.

"We have a young lady in the hospital fighting for her life right now," Sheriff Roberts said.

After the shooter was found dead, deputies searched the mall room by room looking for anyone else who might be injured or hiding. By 6:30 p.m. they had searched almost the entire building.

"We will search this mall until we are certain it is secure and everyone has been removed," Rhodes said at the time.

Holly Bautista, 28, said she was shopping at Macy's for a Christmas dress for her daughter when she heard pops that sounded like firecrackers.

Bautista said hundreds of shoppers and mall employees started running, and she and dozens of other people were trying to escape through a department store exit.

KATU Reporter Anna Canzano said her husband, Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano, was pulling up to the mall when the shooting happened. He said people reported hearing around 60 shots from the food court.

A man who has played Santa at the mall for 11 years said he heard more than a dozen shots that were clearly from a semi-automatic weapon.

"I hit the floor inside the set and fortunately there weren't too many kids or people in the set area," said the man, who would only give his name as 'Kris Kringle.'

... but I loved this part. In spite of everything, you have to imagine he's trying to make sure no kids see him on TV and realize he's not really Santa. They interviewed him and he stayed in character the whole time, even as he compassionately talked about his coworkers and the shoppers._________________"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

This is not tragic so much as stupid, but the headline is great and the comments are better.

Yeah, I posted some links a few pages back, the Wired article shows how batshit loco he was.

In other news, this is minor yet awesome:
Shhhh! A new law says TV ads can't blare anymoreAssociated Press – 5 hrs ago

Quote:

NEW YORK (AP) — TV viewing could soon sound a little calmer. The CALM Act, which limits the volume of TV commercials, goes into effect on Thursday.

CALM stands for Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation. The act is designed to prevent TV commercials from blaring at louder volumes than the program content they accompany. The rules govern broadcasters as well as cable and satellite operators.

The rules are meant to protect viewers from excessively loud commercials. The Federal Communications Commission adopted the rules a year ago, but gave the industry a one-year grace period to adopt them.

Suspected violations can be reported by the public to the FCC on its website.

So there was a shooting in a mall near Portland, OR (Clackamas). I can't imagine how terrifying that must be, especially with families and children around, the holidays... just all kinds of fucked up.

KOMO News wrote:

CLACKAMAS, Ore. – A gunman opened fire Tuesday in a busy Clackamas shopping center, leaving the gunman and two others dead and forcing the mall's Santa Claus and hundreds of Christmas shoppers and employees to flee or hide among store displays.

The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. at the Clackamas Town Center. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office immediately received a flurry of 9-1-1 calls and dispatched deputies to the scene where they divided up into small teams to track down the shooter, who was later found dead.

The gunman shot and killed two people and critically injured a third person before turning the gun on himself, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. James Rhodes told reporters outside the mall. He added that no deputies fired their weapons during the incident.

At a news conference later in the evening, Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said responding officers handled the situation admirably.

"I'm really proud of all the different agencies that came together to really step up and put their lives on the line," he said, adding that there were law enforcement officers at the mall minutes after the first reports of shots. Four SWAT teams were quickly deployed, Roberts said, to "basically hunt down this guy in the mall."

At the height of the terror, over 100 officers from nearly every government agency - from the city to the federal levels - responded.

At this point, investigators have not yet released any details about the suspect or two victims who were killed. All they have said is that the shooter was an adult male.

The victim who survived is a female and in "serious" condition, according to Oregon Health and Science University, where she is being treated.

"We have a young lady in the hospital fighting for her life right now," Sheriff Roberts said.

After the shooter was found dead, deputies searched the mall room by room looking for anyone else who might be injured or hiding. By 6:30 p.m. they had searched almost the entire building.

"We will search this mall until we are certain it is secure and everyone has been removed," Rhodes said at the time.

Holly Bautista, 28, said she was shopping at Macy's for a Christmas dress for her daughter when she heard pops that sounded like firecrackers.

Bautista said hundreds of shoppers and mall employees started running, and she and dozens of other people were trying to escape through a department store exit.

KATU Reporter Anna Canzano said her husband, Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano, was pulling up to the mall when the shooting happened. He said people reported hearing around 60 shots from the food court.

A man who has played Santa at the mall for 11 years said he heard more than a dozen shots that were clearly from a semi-automatic weapon.

"I hit the floor inside the set and fortunately there weren't too many kids or people in the set area," said the man, who would only give his name as 'Kris Kringle.'

... but I loved this part. In spite of everything, you have to imagine he's trying to make sure no kids see him on TV and realize he's not really Santa. They interviewed him and he stayed in character the whole time, even as he compassionately talked about his coworkers and the shoppers.

as opposed to arming themselves and adding to the gunfire, yes. it did say

Quote:

In Clackamas County, Sheriff Roberts said local law-enforcement personnel had trained earlier this year for a shooting scenario at Clackamas Town Center, an exercise that involved both police and retailers.

- so there is now some eye towards preparation and planning, sad as that necessity is.

the pro-gun lobby fights on, though:

Quote:

The upshot, says Mr. Kopel: "Lying down and cowering doesn't seem to work very well, so law enforcement has gotten smarter and civilians have gotten smarter."

In Clackamas County, Sheriff Roberts said local law-enforcement personnel had trained earlier this year for a shooting scenario at Clackamas Town Center, an exercise that involved both police and retailers.

- so there is now some eye towards preparation and planning, sad as that necessity is.

Police in Newtown, Connecticut, are investigating a shooting at a local elementary school. The Hartford Courant reports that there are multiple fatalities, including the shooter. At least three people are being treated at a local hospital. Early indications are that the school's principal, one teacher, and possibly two or more children were all shot by a man who entered the school, wearing a mask, and carrying two handguns. There were also reports of a second shooter who may be at large, but that is also unconfirmed._________________The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
- Charles Darwin